Bluebirds Without Wings | Julie and the Phantoms

Nothing's Back Home

Luke and Reggie sat out in the hallway together. Reggie would be getting first sleep, but he liked hanging out with him for a while. It was their time to debrief and time for Reggie to remember his entire life didn't revolve around preteens that bullied him.

"He made me ride a horse today," Reggie said, laying flat on the hallway floor. "I thought I was going to die."

"You liked it, didn't you?" Luke told him.

"After the first hour, yeah, it was fine." Reggie wasn't one to complain to their superiors. It's why he was so well liked by the higher ups in the academy. That and he was great at sparring and running. The Prince had no idea he was terrified of horses and accidentally made him face his fear. "I wouldn't mind doing it again if I'm honest."

"You just need more exposure to horses," Luke told him. "They're all different but workable. Like a car I'm guessing." Reggie stayed silent for a moment, contemplating something.

"Did you have horses back home in Silvone?" he asked Luke. Luke's shoulders sunk. He didn't like to talk about home. He couldn't talk about home. Even if he had known Alex and Reggie for years, he tried to never discuss anything outside of vague details. Yeah, we had a store. Yeah, the school my mom taught at. Yes, there was a town well. There were also some trees.

"Sort of," he said. "I rarely had to ride one, though. I'm decent with them. But not really. Didn't ride one much."

"What's sort of?" Reggie asked. Luke wanted him to stop. He started tapping his foot quickly on the floor, pulling one of his knees to his chest.

"I don't know. A couple." Reggie seemed to take the hint and didn't say anything else. Luke felt bad for shutting him out, but he could not let them in. He couldn't. "Did you hear they're trying to get Nick to replace me?" Luke said to him. Reggie sat up with a curious look on his face. That was one way to divert his attention.

"Nick?" Reggie asked. "Blond and in love with the Princess?" Luke scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"They're not dating," he said. Reggie smirked, and Luke regretted his tone and choice of words. "No," Luke shook his head. "Don't start."

"I haven't said anything," Reggie said, giggling behind his arm. Luke stared at him and crossed his arms, shifting to cross his legs. "But the Prince told me he's in love with the Princess. He said that the Princess liked him first and then that she stopped liking him at the same time he fell for her. We should write a song about it."

"It'd be a crappy song," Luke said.

"Fine, we can write a song about you and the Princess and your forbidden love," Reggie said, then pretending to sigh dreamingly. Luke felt himself blush, annoyed with Reggie.

"There is nothing going on. I'm just doing my job."

"Nick wants your job apparently."

"The Princess says she doesn't think it'll happen. She says likes having me around now. Even dropped the Sir." He looked up at Reggie who had a toothy smile on his face.

"Come on, dude," Reggie teased. "You can tell good old Reginald if you have a crush on her." Luke's smile fell off his place, and he pretended to replace it with anger.

"I'm not telling good old Reginald anything. He needs to go to bed." Reggie sighed with a dramatic flair, standing up.

"Fine, but when you're ready to tell me, you know where I live." Reggie gave him a fist bump that Luke begrudgingly returned before he disappeared down the hall into their shared room. Luke stood up, ready to stand in silence for the next six hours. He amazed himself with how much he endured alone in the dark. He should have lost his mind a long time ago.

Two hours went by with no noises. He played a game on his phone for a bit before growing bored of it and putting it away. He sometimes felt the urge to read something in the hall but didn't know where to get books or if he could borrow any. It had been a long time since he got through a book. He wondered if his mom had read anything new lately.

His phone buzzed and he wasn't expecting to see what he saw.

Princess: Are you on duty?

Luke: Yes. What's up?

Princess: Want to hang out for a bit? I can't sleep.

Luke: Sure. I'll be right in.

He tried to hide how happy he was when he walked in, wiping away his smile and slowly walking into the room. The Princess was sitting in PJs at the end of her bed, holding a necklace in front of her view. "What do you have there?" he asked her as he walked over. He sat next to her, and she put the dainty necklace in his hand. It had a silver chain and clasp and at the front, a tear-dropped shaped aquamarine gemstone.

"It was on my bed, but I don't know who left it," she said to him, staring at it. She looked tired and so concerned in made Luke want to wrap her up in a blanket and sing her a lullaby.

"It's not Flynn's?" he asked. She shook her head as he handed it back to her. "Looks like you might have a secret admirer."

"I hope not," she mumbled, laying back on her bed. Luke tried not to think about how much trouble he could get in for even sitting on the Princess' bed, much less laying next to her so late at night. They both stared at her high ceiling where she had glow in the dark sticker stars and planets.

"I had those when I was little," he said to her, pointing at the stickers. He whispered, "I wonder if they're still there."

"Would you parents remove them?" she asked him. He realized that this conversation could take a bad turn if he didn't put it to a halt. She looked at him, and she seemed so hopeful to learn about him. He hated to end it.

"They wouldn't," he answered truthfully. He looked away from her eyes and asked her, "What are you going to do with the necklace?"

Her tone went back to being drained. "Show it to my dad. See if he recognizes it. It might've been my mom's, and I've just never seen it. I'm more worried about how it got here, though. I guess I'm not in my room as much anymore. We're mostly in the music room."

"Moved from being a hermit in one room to being a hermit in another, huh?" he asked. She elbowed his arm, making him laugh. He looked at her, and she was smiling, too. She was so close to him. Right there, inches away. She always was, but she was never close like this.

"You're kind of mean to me," she commented to him. There was still a grin on her face as she spoke.

"I'm just playing, Princess," he told her.

"I know. I don't mind. Most people are super careful with me. You and Flynn aren't. It's nice," she said.

"I know you're not fragile." That's something I like about you. The Princess didn't say anything else and yawned, closing her eyes. Luke watched her for a moment, noticing the outline of her nose and lips. Looking at the small ruby earrings she had worn that day and found a few moles he had never seen before. She startled him when she opened her eyes and caught him staring.

She laughed. "You're so obvious."

"What?" Luke found himself blushing. "I am not," he tried making his voice deeper to put his foot down, but it was too late. The Princess was having a laughing fit, and he couldn't help but nervously join her. "What do you mean?" He knew what she meant. Did she know what she meant? What she was doing to his heart, making it lose control?

"Nothing," she grinned, wiping her eyes. They both knew it wasn't nothing. 

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A/N: So I had to rewrite a lot of this chapter and the next few chapters because I realized I hated my original plot with the necklace, so instead, we get this cute scene instead of a horrific one. I need to get my outline back in order because that's honestly what messed me up LMAO. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter because the next one is personally my favorite (I believe?). See you all Monday!